Olympic curling silver medalists Korey Dropkin, Cory Thiesse say they’ll go for gold in 4 years
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Four years ago, Korey Dropkin invited Cory Thiesse to the iconic Pickwick restaurant in Duluth. He had an important question to ask. Would she be his partner…in mixed doubles curling?
Thiesse, of course, said yes. The story went viral. NBC featured it during their Olympic coverage. “Is the Pickwick really a thing?” Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert said he was asked by people while he was traveling during the Olympics.
After teaming up, “The Coreys,” as they’ve become known, went on to win the World Championships in 2023. And then this winter in Italy, they captured Minnesotans’, and Americans’ hearts by winning a silver medal.
The duo was welcomed home by hundreds of fans at the DECC in Duluth Friday night. At the end of the festivities, Dropkin had one more question for his partner.
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“Four more years. Let's do it again?” Dropkin asked. “Yeah,” responded Thiesse with a grin, to which the crowd erupted in applause.
Dropkin and Thiesse made history at the Milan Cortina games. They became the first Americans to medal in mixed doubles curling. And Thiesse is the first American woman ever to win an Olympic curling medal.
At the event Friday evening, the pair entered the ballroom through a tunnel of curling brooms held aloft by about 40 kids – many of them curlers themselves. Reinert proclaimed it “Cory and Korey Day” in the city of Duluth.
“You've shown that world class performance comes from the shores of Lake Superior. You've reminded us that small communities can produce extraordinary talent when we invest in and support each other,” Reinert said.
That talent was groomed at the Duluth Curling Club, which was founded in 1891 and is one of the oldest clubs in the U.S. Thiesse’s mom first took her there when she was less than a month old, where she sat in a car seat while she played.
"I grew up watching my parents curl and drinking kitty cocktails at the bar,” Thiesse recalled. “I started curling when I was eight years old and got involved in our junior program, which is one of the best in the country."
Dropkin moved to Duluth 13 years ago from Massachusetts to focus on curling.
“I'm not a Duluth native, but I sure feel like a Duluthian, and that's because of you all,” he told the crowd. ”You all have welcomed me with open arms, and I appreciate you so much for being so supportive of my journey and helping me grow as as a young man and as a curler.”
Both Dropkin and Thiesse say they were inspired to dream for the Olympics in 2006, when a team including Duluth Curling Club member John Shuster won a bronze medal–the first ever Olympic medal in curling.
A Shuster-led team won the first U.S. gold in 2018. With Dropkin and Thiesse’s silver, all three American medals in curling have a connection to the Duluth Curling Club.
"It really kind of shows that our community turns out some top-notch curlers, and it's just really neat to see, and it's awesome to have that be a part of our local community.” said Nathan Helder, who’s been a member of the Duluth club for the past 20 years.
“It's honestly great because it gets the kids fired up,” said Derrick Ellis, another member of the club whose son also curls at the club. “And I want this sport to grow.”
Curling’s popularity gets a major bump every four years, when Americans are glued to their TVs during the Olympics. That boost often wanes. But people in Duluth think this time could be different, in no small part because of Thiesse and Dropkin.
“Like so many people, I think we connected with the cool dynamic they had on the ice,” said Edric Funk, who drove up from Burnsville for the event and recently took up the sport.
Thiesse said they take their role as ambassadors for curling seriously.
“We're really excited to share this medal with so many people and inspire the next generation of curlers growing up,” Thiesse said. “People have fallen in love with curling the last couple weeks, and it's so exciting for us to be a part of and to just see that happen.”
